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Dalhousie Hevie?; 
Oct. 1922 



CANADIAN 0PINlt3N OF 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

F. Landon 

Librarian of the Public Library, London, Ontario. 

/^^ANADIAN appreciation of Abraham Lincoln is not a plant of 
^^^ recent growth. There has always been less of the Lincoln 
"myth" in England and in Canada than in the United States, — a 
result probably of the detachment with which an outsider could 
consider the figure of the war President, even at a time when inter- 
national complications might make him a possible enemy. It 
was often remarked of the late Sir Wilfrid Laurier that his mind 
seemed filled with the utterances of Lincoln, so often did the apt 
quotations in his speeches come from that source. Of those who 
listened to those quotations it could truthfully be said that no voice 
of the nineteenth century came with more general appeal. 

It is doubtful if before 1860 there were many Canadians who 
had ever heard of Abraham Lincoln. George Brown, editor of the 
Toronto Globe, doubltless knew of him, but Brown had lived in New 
York before coming to Toronto, and though his stay there was brief, 
it was long enough to associate him with the anti-slavery movement, 
thus determining beforehand the stand which he was to take in his 
powerful Canadian journal when the Civil War began in 186L The 
North in its time of trial had no more steadfast friend in Canada 
than George Brown. On the public platform and through the 
columns of his newspaper he championed the cause of Lincoln and 
freedom, used every effort to influence Canadian public opinion 
in favour of the North, and strenuously opposed that small section 
of Canadian people who, chiefly located in Toronto and aping the 
upper classes in England, gave comfort to the South by aiding 
their plots in this country. 

Even in The Globe, however, there is no mention of Lincoln's 
name before February of 1860, and his nomination in the middle of 
that year was as great a surprise to Brown as it was to a majority 
of Americans. Brown naturally had expected to see Seward the 
choice of the Republican convention. Lincoln's election in Novem- 
ber, however, was to him a "triumph of righteousness," and as the 



^4-5^ 



AS 

330 THE DALHOUSIE REVIEW -^^^ 

separation between North and South became ever more marked 
after November of 1860, Brown grew more and more assertive with 
regard to the issues. He had little patience with the wild speeches 
made in Congress at the close of 1860. "Since Abraham Lincoln 
became President", he wrote, "we have waded through many speech- 
es delivered by men in and out of Congress, but we have totally 
failed to find any one good and sufficient reason for destroying the 
Union." 

It was a question in 1861 whether Lincoln or any other man 
could save the Union. Canadians could not overlook the gravity 
of the Washington situation in its relation to their own future. 
In the United States there had always been an element in favour 
of the annexation of Canada and — with the possibility of the South 
being lost — Canada seemed to have been reserved by "manifest 
destiny" as a compensation. It was this feeling in Canada, a fear 
of the aggression possible under such circumstances, that hastened 
the Confederation movement and aided in forming the present 
Dominion. Canadians could not but be interested in the character 
of the man who occupied the presidential chair in this crisis and 
exercised such large powers for good or for ill. 

Canada's fears were increased when the Trent incident late 
in 1861 seemed for a time to threaten trouble between the United 
States and Great Britain. There was little desire in Canada for 
war, whatever the jingoes of Washington and London might think, 
but the incident had unhappy effects in producing suspicion and 
resentment in Canada for years afterward. For a time it weakened 
the influence of those who — like Brown— believed that Canadians 
ought to be out and out supporters of the North, though after 1862 
the tide turned in the other direction, and in the later years of the 
war sturdy Canadian recruits by the thousands entered the armies 
of Grant and Sherman. 

Canadian opinion of Lincoln during the war period was in 
part the outcome of visits paid to Washington by Canadian political 
leaders and by others in public life. In December, 1861, the Hon. 
A. T. Gait, Canadian finance minister, visited Washington on 
official business connected with the reciprocity agreement, and on 
the evening of the 4th of December, 1861, he had an interview 
with the President. Writing to his wife the next day, he says: 

I went by appointment last night to see the President, and 
had a long and satisfactory private interview. He is very tall, 
thin, and with marked features, appears fond of anecdote, of which 
he has a fund. I liked him for his straight- forward, strong common 
sense. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 331 

On the same date Gait prepared a memorandum of his visit to 
Lincoln which gives much more detail. It is as follows : — 

Had interview with the President last evening; Ashman^ 
present. In the course of conversation I stated that Seward's 
circular- had caused us uneasiness. The President said that when 
discussed by the Cabinet he alone had supposed that result would 
follow ; the rest did not. I said that, while we held the most friendly 
feelings to the United States, we thought from the indications 
given of the views of the Government and the tone of the press 
that it was possibly their intention to molest us, and that the 
existence of their enormous armed force might be a serious peril 
hereafter. Mr. Lincoln replied that the press neither here nor 
in England, as he had the best reason to know, reflected the real 
views of either governm.ent. No doubt they had felt hurt at the 
early recognition of the South as belligerents, but private expla- 
nations of Earl Russell had satisfied him on this point. He had 
implicit faith in the steady conduct of the Am.erican people eyen 
under the trying circumstances of the war, and though the exist- 
ence of large armies had in other countries placed successful 
generals in positions of arbitrary power, he did not fear this 
result but believed the people would quietly resume their peace- 
ful avocations and submit to the rule of the government. For 
himself and his Cabinet, he had never heard from one of his minis- 
ters a hostile expression toward us, and he pledged himself as a 
man of honor, that neither he nor his Cabinet entertained the 
slightest aggressive designs upon Canada, nor had any desire to 
disturb the rights of Great Britain on this continent. I said such 
expressions gave me the greatest pleasure, and with his permis- 
sion I would convey them to my colleagues in the Government, to 
which he assented. 

Mr. Ashman then rem.arked that there was still a possibility 
of grave difficulty arising out of the Mason and Slidell affair. To 
which the President replied to the effect that in any case that 
matter could be arranged, and intimated that no cause of quarrel 
would grow out of that. 

The conversation then turned upon the slaver}^ question and 
American politics. 

The impression left on m.y mind has been that the President 
sincerely deprecates any quarrel with England, and has no hostile 
designs 'upon Canada. " His statement that his views were those 
of all his Cabinet is partlv corroborated by the statement made to 
me by Mr. Seward that he should be glad to see Canada placed 
in a position of defence. 

I cannot, however, divest my mind of the impression that 
the policy of the American government is so subject to popular 
impulses that no assurance can be, or ought to be, relied on under 



1. Ashman was an unofficial agent of Seward's. 

2. Seward's circular of October 14 urging that ports and harbours on the Atlantic seaboard and on the 

Great Lakes be put in a state of defence. 



332 THE DALHOUSIE REVIEW 

present circumstances. The temper of the public mind toward 
England is certainly of doubtful character, and the idea is uni- 
versal that Canada is most desirable for the North, while its un- 
prepared state would make it an easy prize. The vast military 
preparations of the North must either be met by corresponding 
organization in the British provinces, or conflict, if it come, can 
have but one result.^ 

On his return to Canada Gait communicated his opinion of 
the President to his colleagues in the Canadian government with 
reassuring effect. Other Canadians also visited Washington and 
met Lincoln. Mr. David Glass, the mayor of London, Ontario, 
published in the Canadian newspapers his impressions of the Presi- 
dent, having been much struck by his manifest honesty, sincerity 
and common sense. As the war continued through 1863 and 1864, 
the figure of the President loomed larger and larger in the eyes of 
the Canadian people. Emancipation linked him with the great 
moral issue that was involved in the war. "It is a bold step which 
Mr. Lincoln has taken", said The Globe of August 23, 1862, "and 
it will be keenly criticized. But it is right as well as politic, and it 
will be sustained by the voice of the civilized world. Four millions 
of men and women will cease to be chattels and will attain the 
dignity of human beings. Who shall say that this is too dearly 
purchased, even by the horrors of civil war." By the time the 
election of 1864 had come around, Canadians generally could 
agree with The Globe's tribute to Lincoln's "honesty, patriotism 
and practical ability." 

The end of the war came in April, 1865, to be followed by 
the greatest tragedy of the period in the assassination of Lincoln. 
The tribute to his greatness and worth paid by the Canadian people 
was spontaneous and almost universal. In the cities and towns of 
the Canadian provinces memorial services were held, municipal 
bodies passed resolutions of sympathy to be sent to Mrs. Lincoln 
and the American Government, in some cases business was suspended 
during the hour of the memorial services, and in many ways the grief 
of the Canadian people over the national tragedy was expressed. 
Business was entirely suspended in Montreal for two hours on April 
19th. In Nova Scotia the Legislature adjourned on hearing of 
Lincoln's death, and later passed a resolution of sympathy. The 
military authorities ordered flags at half mast all over the British 
provinces. In Toronto the newspaper offices were besieged for 
news of the President's condition, and a civic delegation of three 

3. Skelton, O. D. Lije and Times of Sir Alex. Tultoch Gait (Toronto. 1920) pp. 314—316. See also 
Newton, Lije oj Lord Lyons, vol. I, p. 60. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 333 

was appointed by the City Council to attend the funeral. As in 
Montreal, business was ordered to be suspended for two hours on 
the 19th. of the month." ' 

In the long editorial which Brown wrote for The Globe he 
said: "Almost all of us feel as if we had suffered a personal loss. 
Mr. Lincoln is spoken of in the same terms as are used toward our 
familiar friends." ^ 

Of an opposite tone was the comment of The Leader, which 
during the war had followed the lead of the London Times in 
championing the cause of the South, so far as this could be champ- 
ioned at all. The Leader thought that the crime must have had 
provocation, and cited "numberless acts of wickedness" committed 
in the South by agents of the Government, including "fair women 
violated by a ribald soldiery." The Leader reviewed Lincoln's 
difficulties and took the view that "badgered from opposite direct- 
ions ... he is not always to be judged by the strictest rule of right." ^ 
This was the exception among the Canadian press, which 
almost everywhere joined in paying tribute to the dead 
President. 

The sympathy of the Canadian people did not pass unnoticed 
by the people and press of the United States. The New York 
Herald, which had constantly talked of the retribution that was 
to come to Canada after the war, said: "These evidences of the 
appreciation in which our late lamented executive was held will 
go far to wipe out any causes for resentment that we may have had 
against the people of the provinces." ' From other American news- 
papers came similar appreciation of the attitude of the people of 
Canada. The New York Tribune was quoted as saying: "It is 
gratifying to acknowledge this expression of sympathy on the part 
of our neighbours in our great national affliction." ^ 

The search for those responsible for the death of Lincoln 
extended to Canada. There were conjectures that the Confederate 
agents in Canada, Jacob Thompson and C. C. Clay, might have had 



4 . The Toronto Leader of April 20, 1865, contained reports of memorial services held at Port Dover, Brad- 

ford, Woodstock, Belleville, Dunnville, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Brockville, Sarnia, Coburg, 
Peterborough, Lindsay, Kingston, Port Hope, Brantford, Prescolt, Colborne, London, Gait, Bowman- 
ville, Stratford, Waterloo, Whitby, Guelph, Hamilton, all in Ontario. In the Toronto City Council 
one member. Councillor Denison, a Southern sympathizer, dissented from the resolution of sym- 
pathy. In Quebec the shops were closed on the 21st. A number of Canadians went to Detroit on 
the 25th of April for the memorial services there on that date. 

5. The Globe's editorial refers to a noisy debauch by some Southern sympathizers at the chief hotel when 

the news came of Lincoln's death. 

6. The Leader, April 17, 1865. 

7. Quoted in The Leader, April 19, 1865. 

8. Quoted in The Leader. April 20, 1865. 



334 THE DALHOUSIE REVIEW 

a part in the crime, and Thompson's boasting tongue certainly 
laid him open to that suspicion. Andrew Johnson was no sooner 
sworn into office than he offered a reward for their capture, and 
they both left Canada with all speed. A few arrests of suspicious 
characters were made here and there throughout Canada, but 
none were connected in any way with the crime. 

More than half a century has passed since Lincoln's death, but — 
the world over — his place in the hall of fame grows more secure. 
He is thought of not as an American, but rather as one who belongs 
to all nations in equal degree. A Canadian poet, Mr. E. W. 
Thomson, has expressed this sentiment in one of his verses : 

We talked of Abraham Lincoln in the night: 

Oh sweet and strange to hear the hard-hand men 

Old-Abeing him, like half the world of yore 

In years when Grant's and Lee's young soldiers bore 

Rifle and steel, and proved that heroes live 

Where folk their lives to Labor mostly give. 

And strange and sweet to hear their voices call 

Him 'Father Abraham", though no man of all 

Was born within the Nation of his birth. 

It was as if they felt that all on Earth. 

Possess of right Earth's greatest Common Man, 

Her sanest, wisest, simplest, steadiest son, 

To whom_ the Father's children all were one, 

And Pomps and Vanities as motes that danced 

In the clear sunshine where his huir.or glanced.^ 



. W. Thomson, The Many-Mansioned House and other Poems (Toronto 1909). The extract is from 
the poem "We Talked of Lincoln." Mr. Thomson himself served in the northern armies m the 
last year of the Civil war. Two other Canadian poets who have written verses on Lincoln are Mrs. 
J. C. Yule in her Poems oj the Heart and //owe (Toronto. 1881) and Evan MacCall m his Poems 
and Songs (Kingston 1888; 



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